


Fun, If Only for a Moment

by bakercrown



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-02
Updated: 2018-12-02
Packaged: 2019-09-05 11:34:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16809820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bakercrown/pseuds/bakercrown
Summary: Tina has been working herself into the ground ever since she lost Queenie and Credence a week ago. She is willing to do whatever it takes to save her sister and the abused boy she feels responsible for--even if it means abandoning her moral code.Newt is concerned. Can he help Tina remember who she really is?





	Fun, If Only for a Moment

**Author's Note:**

> A friend asked me to do Newtina playing in the snow on tumblr for a prompt... I went overboard, _and_ things got angsty. 
> 
> ALSO if you are a regular reader of my fics and want to know when the Biggest Match of the Year will be updated--soon! I'm 1500 words into the next chapter.

The group of Newt, Tina, Jacob, Nagini, Theseus, and Kama had been at Hogwarts for a week after the incident at the amphitheater, planning and scheming for what they should do next. 

The only problem, Newt thought, was that no one could seem to agree on what the right plan _was_. 

“We need to storm Nurmengard by force, if necessary,” Tina said, slamming her fist into Dumbledore's desk, making several Transfiguration papers he was grading slide off the desk. The force also made the coffee table feet away that held their tea that had been brought by house-elves several minutes ago tremble as well--tea splashed dangerously against the sides of the cups. “Credence is there, my sister is there–I don’t care what we have to do. Even if we have to drag them out of there by the collar, we need to get them back.” 

“Agreed,” Jacob said, face set. It was odd--most of the time, he forgot that Jacob had fought in another war and lived to tell the tale, but in moments like this, Newt remembered. “This is war–-and to Grindelwald, they’re both assets he can use. We can’t leave them there.” Newt knew that while Jacob had a point, he also knew his best friend–-it would be sweet to take Grindelwald’s pawns away, but even sweeter for Jacob to have his girlfriend back. 

Newt shook his head. He wanted to hold up his hands to gesture that Jacob and Tina had it all wrong, to tell them to _stop_ , but he was too busy trying to keep the Niffler from stealing Hogwarts’ silver spoons that had came with their tea. Tina’s tea, Newt noted sadly, was cold and full to the brim. He wrestled the Niffler close, while still looking Tina in the eye. 

“Tina, I called you the middle head, the visionary because you don’t just rush in with violence–since when do you swoop in and solve things that way? We need to win back Queenie and Credence’s hearts, not just bring them back under the Imperius Curse, or whatever is is you have planned.” He scowled at her. Where was his Tina? 

Tina scowled back at him, eyes slits. “Since when do I fight fire with fire? Since that–that _snake_ took my sister!–” Tina’s voice broke, and she forced her gaze on the coffee table. Everyone stared at her, but no one said a word. Nagini raised her eyebrows at the ‘snake’ comment, but said nothing. “When our parents died, I said I would take care of her–if the Wizengamot catches her now; catches her _there_ , it will be for something far worse than messing around with _him_ –” she threw a steely glare at Jacob “–So, maybe that will help you understand, Newt that I don’t have time to worry about principals right now! I have to find Queenie, before the authorities do-–” 

She broke off, beginning to head for the door of Dumbledore’s office. Newt blocked her path, spreading out his arms. The Niffler, a mischievous grin on its face, leapt off of Newt with as much agility as a professional diver and the niffler sprinted towards the coffee table where the tea sat. Dumbledore Summoned it with a silent _Accio_ , and once the squirming creature was in his arms, offered it one of his expensive silver instruments, which it happily fiddled with. 

“I can’t let you throw away your principles, Tina,” Newt said, as determined get Tina to see sense as the Niffler had been to steal Dumbledore's china moments ago. “We’re all worried about Queenie and Credence, but force isn’t the answer-–” he glanced at Jacob “–-if the two of you drag her back, she’ll just go back again, first chance she gets.” 

Newt might not understand people, but he knew creatures, and if one thing was true, it was that most of the time, with animals, you had to let them think something you wanted them to do was _their_ idea first. Surely winning back a lost Obscurial and Legilimens wasn’t that far off. What Queenie and Credence needed was to feel _loved_ again, like someone was still on their side. Tina and Jacob’s plan would not achieve that goal. 

Newt just wished he was good enough with people to communicate that out loud-–he couldn’t begin to figure out how he would tell that to Jacob and Tina, though. 

“I believe that Newt is right–” Dumbledore began. 

Both Tina and Jacob both went off, ranting in one unified voice they they couldn’t just leave Queenie and Credence with the charming and manipulative Grindelwald. Dumbledore held up a hand to stop both their protests. 

“Jacob, Tina-–I did not say that we are leaving Queenie and Credence there forever, nor will you hear me say it-–” He paused, rubbing the niffler's head as he considered his words. “They are not the first wizards to be manipulated by Grindelwald, nor will they be the last. We will get them back. But Newt is right–they won’t return to our side until they realize they are being used.” 

Dumbledore’s voice was slow and reassuring, but it had no effect on Tina and Jacob. Tina looked like a nesting mother dragon whose egg had been stolen. Jacob, still as lost and vulnerable as he had been when Queenie had ran into the blue fire. 

“I’m glad I figured out where the kitchens were two days ago,” Jacob said, already heading towards the door. “I need to do some stress-baking. I’ll see you all once I’ve blown off steam.” With that, the door opened and closed, and Jacob had left. 

Tina continued to shake with anger. Newt approached her slowly, as though she would run away if he walked over too quickly. 

“Now Tina–” 

“Don’t you ‘now Tina’ me,” she snapped. She headed for the door, still seething. 

Newt hesitated, glancing at the niffler. Dumbledore gave him a warm smile. 

“I think I can keep this fellow entertained while you calm down Tina,” Dumbledore said, pulling out his pocket watch and showing it to the Niffler, whose face was now alight with joy. Newt almost laughed–but he was too worried about Tina to do so. He gave Dumbledore a thankful nod, and left the room, sprinting after Tina. 

“Tina! Tina, wait!” 

Tina kept walking, her shoulders squared, not looking back. 

It broke Newt’s heart. Tina was so lost, she didn’t even seem to remember who she was anymore. Newt knew part of it was guilt–she blamed herself for not finding Credence faster, for driving Queenie away. 

Why couldn’t Tina realize that she had done everything she could for both Queenie and Credence? Their problems weren’t her fault, just like it hadn’t been Newt’s fault that time Pickett had gotten a terrible fever. 

Tina had barely slept the past few days, only eating when he, Jacob, Nagini, Theseus and Kama harassed her into it. Her whole being was focused on ways to get Queenie and Credence back from that silver-tongued bastard. 

Maybe… Maybe _that_ was the problem. How long had it been since Tina had simply let herself have fun? 

“Tina!” Newt increased his pace until he had caught up with Tina. He slowly placed his hand on hers. He kept his touch gentle to keep her from shying away, like a frightened unicorn. “Why don’t we go out into the grounds and make snow-angels?”

Tina gaped at him. “Why in Merlin’s name would I do that?”

She didn’t say it, but Newt knew her–he could see the gears turning in her head: Fear for Credence and Queenie. The weight of bringing them home on her shoulders. 

Newt reached up and smoothed her hair, which likely hadn’t seen a brush since before the amphitheatre. 

“Because you’re no use to Queenie and Credence like this,” Newt said. “I won’t back down from what I said, Tina–-you won’t get them home by rushing to Grindelwald’s fortress wand blazing. But without food, without sleep, without _fun_ –you’ll work yourself into the dirt, and then you’ll _never_ see Queenie and Credence again.”

Something in Tina’s eyes changed. The resistance faded, her face softened. 

Then the real miracle happened: She smiled at Newt. Her hand linked with his. 

“Okay,” Tina said. “It can’t hurt–for a little while.” 

Down several flights of stairs and through the entrance hall, until they were on Hogwarts’ snow covered grounds. Tina smiled like a child at the sight of the snow. 

“Queenie and I used to love building snowman!” Tina said, reaching down and packing together a snowball. Newt froze–was he about to get decked with the aim only a seasoned Auror had, or was Tina feeling nostalgic and wanting to build a snowman? 

Much to Newt’s relief, she began to roll the packed snowball into the snow, digging her knees in to roll the ball, making it larger and larger. Newt’s muscles relaxed, glad that he was _not_ going to be hit in the face. He ran towards Tina, and fell into place beside her, helping her heave the bottom of the snowman together. When they stopped, it went up to their waists. 

They both stopped, panting. 

She had just admitted this was something she and Queenie had done together–if he told her that he and Leta had done this, would she be jealous or would it be something they could bond over, a pain they could share, having built snowmen with someone they had lost? 

Worst of all, would Tina think he was implying that he thought that Queenie was going to die if he said that out loud?   
“Tina, I–um–Tina–” He stood there, his mind in a battle of whether or not he could say it out loud. 

Tina’s cheeks were red from the cold and she already looked so much better now that he had taken her out of Dumbledore’s office, away from the whole thing, if only for a while. Her eyes looked bright again. 

“Yes, Newt?” The expression on her face was inviting. She had understood about the salamanders–-would she understand this too? 

“Leta and I used to build snowman at Hogwarts!” He rushed the phrase out in a hurry. He could easily picture Jacob facepalming in his mind. 

Tina’s face fell. Was that a bad sign, or–

She slowly walked over to Newt. She leaned forward, until their noses almost touched, and placed her hands on Newt’s shoulders. 

“Thank you for telling me, Newt,” Tina said. She swallowed. “We’ve both been through a lot–-maybe we can making building a snowman our tradition now, too.”

Newt’s eyes widened in amazement. _Tina understood_. How did Tina _always_ understand? 

“Well,” he said, eyes sparkling. “We should do the middle next.” 

After more pushing and a lot of sweating, they had both the middle and the head on. Tina beamed proudly at their work. She looked very cute, her face alight with pride. 

“So next,” Tina said, mentally doing a checklist. “We need eyes, a mouth, and a nose. Oh, and arms, I guess.” 

Newt spotted two small tree branches lying near the entrance to the forest and Summoned them. “You can do the honors of putting the arms on, Tina.” 

Tina beamed and fixed on the arms. She stepped away once they were fixed on, squinting to make sure they were both even. 

“They look great,” Newt assured her. Tina’s featured relaxed in relief. 

“Okay, so eyes, a nose, and a mouth,” Tina said. “Queenie and I used to use carrots for the nose as girls, but I didn’t think to grab one.” Her expression seemed to deflate–a tradition ruined. 

Newt dug into the pockets of his coat and pulled out a small baby carrot. “Sometimes I give those to the Niffler as a snack.” 

“Amazing!” Tina said, her eyes twinkling, fixing the nose on, as well. Newt could feel his own happiness growing as well. Tina was slowly becoming the woman he loved again, retreating out of the shell of anxiety, anger, and depression she had been in for a week. 

Tina picked up two pebbles on the ground and handed them to Newt. “You can do the eyes.” 

Newt slowly and lovingly fixed on the eyes. He looked at Tina for approval, who nodded. 

“Now I think we need a mouth,” Tina said, her brow narrowed. Tina turned out her pockets: A dented pocket watch, an uneaten croissant Jacob had tried to tempt her to eat yesterday, and her wand. 

Tina burst out laughing. “I think we could use the croissant, what do you think, Newt?” 

Newt joined her in laughter. “I think it’s fine, as long as Jacob doesn’t find out you didn’t eat that–and speaking of which–” Newt’s tone grew serious “–we’re going to the kitchens as soon as we finish here–I’m not letting you skip another meal, Tina.” 

Tina didn’t put up a fight. “Okay.” She grabbed the roll and turned it in a direction so it looked like it was smiling and stuck it on the face. It fell to the ground. Tina glared at it. 

“Seriously?” She repinned the roll and it fell to the ground again. Newt tried not to laugh. Tina glared at the roll, beginning to look offended. She grabbed the roll, placed it on the face so it was turned upward into a smile, and magicked it on. 

“Now, before you say anything,” Tina said as Newt burst into laughter. “There was no rule saying we couldn’t use magic, Newt!”

They both completely gave into the fits of laughter, suddenly unable to stop. It was several moments before they both stopped, flushed red and beaming. Tina looked thoughtful as her eyes fell on Newt.

“Thank you, Newt,” Tina said, her face settling to a smile. She took his hand. “You were right–about both the break and Queenie. I was just so buried in work, I–”

“Couldn’t see it?” Newt offered. 

“Yeah,” Tina said, squeezing his hand. “Come on, let’s go to the kitchens-–maybe Jacob is baking chocolate chip cookies.”

**Author's Note:**

> I've never wrote a fic solely about newtina--maybe let me know how I did with a comment? <3


End file.
